Method of making covered elastic threads



Aprlfl 6, 1937. T HARR|$ 2,076,270

METHOD OF MAKING COVERED ELASTIC THREADS Filed Aug. 15, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 1 mum" ATTORNEYS.

April 6, 1937.. T. HARRIS 2,076,270

METHOD OF MAKING COVERED ELASTIC THREADS Filed Aug. 15, 1935 '2Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTOR. .7 %o/fiaz.s z czr/uris A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 6, 1937 v h i UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE MErnonor naiiggvsann msrrc Thomas Harris, Providence, R. L, assignor to HarrisTextile Machinery Corporation, a-

corporation of Rhode Island Application August 15, 1935, Serial No.36,300

1 Claims. (01. 117-35) i This invention relates to covered elasticthreads Fig. '7. is an elevation of a fragmental portion and the methodof making the same; and has of the covered thread. for one of itsobjects a method by which an im- Commercial elastic yarn usuallyconsists of a proved elastic thread may be, made which will rubber coreabout which there is helically wrapped 5 be more completely covered andyet will have atwisted thread of fibrous material. Thistwisted 5 morefreedom of expansion and contraction than thread is wrapped about thecore when the'core is one which is covered by a twister thread wrappedstretched and prevents contraction of the thread about an elastic core.from its original. size to leave the core constantly Another object ofthe invention is the method under tension. on the other hand, if thethread by which untwisted fibers may be positioned about were notstretched to its limit when covered, this 10 an elastic core andsecurely held thereon. covering will restrict the thread to a certainAnother object of the invention is the utiliza amount and prevent itfrom stretching to the tion of a method by which the covering! mags b:fgielnthiit wouldwithout thefcoverngt Furthrer formed from a sin 1e endor a plurality 0 en 0 5, spaces are usually orme ween e fibrous materialei rtending through the same detwisted thread which covers the rubbercore when 15 livery. rolls and wrapped either singly or inmultistretched and also frequently when contracted; pie about an elasticcore, without having been in 01318; Fiat a margedimprovedrmthreadfiitnaypreviously, separately twisted. e orme ve pro 8. cove g o ers Anotherobject of the invention is a tinaethog gIhich hanfrbgei: refalativeg'1rgytgtigfiigg by which the usual drafting frame may use eusual a g rame ow c e s 20 and the elastic core merely introduced to be are deliveredand introduce into this machine a delivered through the rolls whichdeliver the atcore of rubber which may be passed through the as i tt diiifi 31 fif iis 2 1? afifi um d witt thitflvifi 3 a d asi is o e p r0 0e a fig; 31 o? 3 1 s $125M desired. bers and then cause the untwistedfibers as they 25 Another object of the invention is the stretcharedelivered from the drafting frame and while ing of an elastic coresimultaneously with the atin the usual process of being twisted into athread tenuation of the yarn used for covering the core to at the sametime be twisted about a rubber core and in some instances by the samemeans as that which may be stretched as desired and when used foroperating upon the covering yarn. contraction takes place I have a morecompletely w' t in covered core and one in which there is more freeiththese and other objects in view, e ven d to both stretching andcontracting than tion consists of certain novel featuresof conw i e reof core is covered with a previously twisted struction as W111 be morefully gg thread which is of such strength as to restrict a particular-1yminted the P and bind the ,rubber limiting its stretching and theaccompanying. drawings contracting, and I may use for my covering eitherFig. 1 is a sectional view looking endwise of a a single end draftedfibers or a plurality of spinning frame and showing the creel, thedraftends of fibers depending upon certain results ing rolls and thering and traveler for operating which I desire; and the f llowi g is amore 40 P the finished Yam; tailed description of the present embodimento 4 I 2 is a enlarged sectimal View similar this invention illustratingthe preferred means Figure 1, showing the drafting rolls and clearer b mth adymtageous results may b board; accomplished. r

Fig. 3 is a view similar to'Figure 2 showing an with Leefinge to21580153128252]! geziglnvais additional set of rolls; a stand draf Fig.4 is a view similar to Figure 2 of a modified Pairs 01 T0118 receiving Ps 0 '0 II.

h bbe d intermediate pairs of rolls IS. A cleaning board amqgemeI-m f te m r core an H is shown in engagement with the upper rolls. showingtwlst-t ere 1 i sh I A usual weighting means for the rolls is pro- 5 isa dlagrammanc top p an v ew vided, there being shown only the commonweight 50 the arrangelnent of the rolls and the plum y it for applyingpressure to the front or delivery 0f ends passmg therethrtugh; 'pairs ofrolls II which is positioned beneath the 6 is a WP P v Similar. toFigure 5 platform [5. upon which the standards in of the of adiagrammatic formation showing a single 'frame'are t d, end of coveringthread; I The usual creel, consisting of decks l1, II is 55 shown inFigure at 23 naked rubber designated 26 superimposed above the platformIt, supports the supply packages ll, I8, l9 and of non-elastic coveringmaterial and also the supply packages 28 and 22 of elastic material foreach of the frames, it being understood that there are a plurality ofthe ends supplied through different rolls or roll sections along thelength of the frame.

The showing in Figure 1 illustrates a pair of ends which are moreclearly diagrammatically and 24, being drawn from a pair of packagessuch as H and I8 through a trumpet 25 and passing between the sets ofthe upper and lower roll sections i i, l2 and it where draft occurs;while the elastic core of is supplied from a package such as2l and is soarranged as to pass beneath the intermediate pairs of nip rolls It andthen through the delivery pairs of nip rolls ll from which last pair ofnip rolls the entire strand is twisted. There is more tension upon therubber than upon the non-elastic fibers, causing the non-elastic fibersto be twisted about the rubber as a core in such a manner as tocompletely cover the same as at 40 in Figures 3, 4 and '7. This twisttakes place between the nip oi the delivery roll Ii and the traveler 2'5on the ring 28 mounted on the rail 29, which ring encircles a bobbin andby the usual traverse motion of this rail 29 the thread is caused to belaid upon the bobbin 30 in the usual manner. The spindle for the bobbin30 is driven by a belt 3i from a drum 32.

In order to suitably guide the non-elastic strand which is to beattenuated through the rolls, I provide a guide 33 at the desiredelevation just ahead of the trumpet 25, while a guide 36 is provided forthe naked rubber core which may be so arranged as to cause the rubber toclear contact with the lower receiving roll l2 and by reason of theprovision of another rod 35 between the lower rolls of the pairs l2 andit, see Figure 2 for a large showing of this structure shown in Figure1, the rubber core will clear a large portion of the surface of thelower intermediate roll. By this arrangement the non-elastic fibers asthey are attenuated at the time of their being twisted are twisted aboutthe rubber core rather than being previously twisted and then wound upona rubber core as is usual. By passing the rubber core 26 through thepairs of rolls l3 and l Lit is placed under the desired degree ofstretch just prior to its being covered with the untwisted fibers.

This rubber core 26 instead of being passed through the pairs of rollsl3 and l l, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, may be passed between aseparate and distinct pair of nip rolls designated 36, 3?, in Figure 3,which may be driven at a different rate than the pairs of rolls it so asto provide a different stretch in the rubber than could be afforded bythe same rolls as it and ii in Figure 2, which are used to attenuate theyarn, or in some cases the rubber may be supplied directly to thedelivery rolls with the elimination of rolls 36 and 37 and withoutstretching it by means of rolls in any manner, see Figure 4.

The covering is supplied through one trumpet. either in the form of asingle end or a pair of ends 23 and 24, or any desired number of ends,the combined amount being that which is desired for the thickness ofcovering on the elastic core when finished.

In Figure 6, I have illustrated a single end 26 utilized with a singlecore of rubber 26 which for most purposes is desirable as I have foundthat a sinale end of the desired weight is better than twist beingplaced in twoends of half the weight and the single end will provide amore compact covering than where the two ends are used as it seems inthe use of two ends that the rubber tends to separate the two ends ofcovering, causing spaces to be formed along the length, whereas when asingle strand is used it wraps more tightly about the rubber core andprovides a better covered yarn which is more desirable for mostpurposes.

The non-elastic strands as they come through the drafting rolls arerelatively untwisted, the the strand between the nip of the deliverypair of rolls ii and the traveler. However, at the same time the twistoccurs in the cover a twist will also be placed in the rubber core andas it is frequently desirable to have no twist in the rubber core, or avery slight amount of twist, I will twist the rubber core in theopposite direction the same number of turns which would be placed in itbetween the pair of rolls ii and the traveler, so that the twist willbalance and there will be no twist in the rubber core in the finishedproduct, or if I wish a little twist I may vary this amount of twistpreviously put into the rubber core to obtain the desired result.

Thus by my method of operation, I am enabled to utilize the ordinarydrafting machine and in= stead of first twisting the fibers which comethrough the drafting machine and then wrapping, them about a rubbercore, I will wrap the fibers directly around the rubber core previous tothe twisting, the twisting all taking place in wrapping them about thecore; and by this method I am enabled to provide a thread which is moreflexible in its extension and contraction than threads which haveheretofore been formed of twisted non-elastic fibers, and yet my threadis one which is more completely covered and thus one which is moredesirable for knitting, weaving, braiding or for other purposes of use.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the constructionillustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the deviceis susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by theterms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a covered elastic thread, which consists inattenuating non-elastic fibers and by the same means stretching anelastic strand, and then twisting said non-elastic fibers and elasticstrand in a manner to cause the nonelastic fibers to twist about saidelastic strand and cover the same.

2. The method of forming a covered elastic thread, which consists inattenuating non-elastic fibers and by the same means attenuating anelastic strand, and then twisting said non-elastic fibers and elasticstrand and maintaining them under such relative tensions as to cause thenonelastic fibers to twist about said elastic strand and cover the same.

3. The method of forming a covered elastic thread, which consists inattenuating a plurality of non-elastic fibers and by the same meansstretching an elastic strand, and then twisting said non-elastic fibersand elastic strand and maintaining them under such relative tensions asto cause the non-elastic fibers to twist about said elastic strand andcover the same.

4. The method of forming a covered elastic thread comprising a tensionedtwisted elastic strand having an outer covering of attenuatednon-elastic fibers which consists in attenuating the non-elastic fibersand without frictionally holding the elastic strand to tension the same,and by the same means positively controlling and 5 stretching theelastic strand, and then twisting said non-elastic fibers and theelastic strand in a manner to cause the non-elastic fibers to twistabout said elastic strand and cover the same.

5. The method of forming a covered elastic 10 thread, which consists inpassing a sliver of raw non-elastic fibers and an elastic strand betweenseparated pairs of nip rolls which are in nipping engagement with thenon-elastic fibers and the elastic strand, attenuating the non-elasticfibers 15 during passage between one pair of the nip rolls andsimultaneously elongating the elastic strand by passage between anotherpair of nip rolls, and thereafter twisting said non-elastic fibers andelastic strand in a manner to cause the non- 20 elastic fibers to twistabout said elastic strand and cover the same.

6. The method of forming a covered elastic thread, which consists inpassing a plurality of ends of loose untwisted non-elastic fibers and anelastic strand between separated pairs of nip rolls which are in nippingengagement with the non elastic fibers and the elastic strand,attenuating the non-elastic fibers during passage between one pair ofthe nip rolls and simultaneously elongating the elastic strand bypassage between another pair of nip rolls, and thereafter twisting saidnonelastic fibers and elastic strand in a manner to cause thenon-elastic fibers to twist about said elastic strand and cover thesame.

7. The method of forming a covered elastic thread, which consists inpulling a strand of loose untwisted non-elastic fibers and an elasticstrand by retarding each strand at a plurality of separated pointssimultaneously and at points spaced from each strand supp y, said pointsfor each strand being different to ttenuate the nonelastic fibers and atthe same time to provide a desired stretch in the elastic strand, andthen twisting the attenuated and stretched strands at the final nippoint in a manner so as to cause the non-elastic fibers to twist aboutsaid elastic strand and cover the same.

I THOMAS HARRIS.

